Windows Blackcomb
Windows Blackcomb is the
code name for the successor to
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, announced in February
2000.
The codename Blackcomb was originally assigned to a version of Windows that was planned to follow
Windows XP in both client and server versions. However in August
2001, the release of Blackcomb was pushed back several years and Longhorn was announced as an intermediary. In November
2002, Microsoft confirmed that Blackcomb would be a server-only release.
Blackcomb has been slated to include many features from
Longhorn, however some features that have slipped from Longhorn's release schedule are not expected to be ready for Blackcomb's release either. On
December 10 2004, Windows Server Chief Bob Muglia stated that the earliest
WinFS to be included in their server operating system would be a component of the first update following a couple of years after Blackcomb.
Blackcomb's true product name and feature list is still unclear. However, it was recently announced that Blackcomb will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, in order to ease the industry's transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. Blackcomb was previously expected to support only 64-bit server systems.
Only known leaked screenshot of a concept release of Windows Blackcomb, circa 1999.
Source
http://www.answers.com/topic/windows-blackcomb
More specifically, it says that Windows Blackcomb will revolutionise the GUI and change the way we interact with our computers. Which is pretty cool. Unfortunatly the only leaked
screenshot thus far doesnt really show much, but it was made back in 2000. From
the article:
The codename Blackcomb was originally assigned to a version of Windows that was planned to follow Windows XP in both client and server versions. However, in August 2001, the release of Blackcomb was pushed back several years and Vista was announced as an intermediary. Since then, the status of Microsoft Blackcomb has undergone many alterations and PR manipulations, ranging from Blackcomb being scrapped entirely, to becoming a server-only release. None of these rumours, however, are true.
Blackcomb is, simply put, the next major Operating System to be released by Microsoft. Note: not the next major version of Windows. Internal sources pitch Blackcomb as being a complete departure from the way we have typically thought about interacting with a computer; ie, the entire Windows "start" philosophy may be changed entirely, and the so-called "new interface" which was - in 1999 - scheduled for Blackcomb, and later moved to the Longhorn project, will now once again debut in Blackcomb, rather than Windows Vista.
Whilst Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some added UI sparkle (in the form of Explorer Glass and the Aero User Experience Guidelines), Blackcomb is targeted directly at revolutionising the way we interact with our home and office PCs. The Explorer shell will be replaced in its entirety; Taskbar, Sidebar, etc, all sacrificing their position as the main way in which we access our applications and documents. Instead, a new UI concept will be brought forward to fill the void, based on the last 10 years of R&D at the Microsoft "VIBE" research lab. Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar are expected to make an appearance, allowing users to more effectively manage and keep track of their applications and documents while in use. Also, a new application launching medium is expected to debut, possibly something along the lines of a circular version of the OS X dock, although this is merely one of the ideas and concepts which Microsoft are currently investigating.
Source - http://spaces.msn.com/members/mehwoo...1pyQ!436.entry